District



@uiten tatts a'tnt @fficev EDMUND JOHNSON AND AUGUS'I STEUERNAG'EL, or WASHINGTON, DIsIuIc'I or COLUMBIA, ASSIGNORS To 'IIIEMsELI/ES, JOI-IN W. PARSONS, DAVID u. SMITH, D. W. BLISS, AND MARCUS r. NORTON. I, v

, Letra-8 man No'. 61,913, and F1a-m7, 18er.

IMPROVED vMODE OP PREVENTNG FRAUDS 0N TIE REVENUE DRIVED FROM SPIRITS AND MALT LIQUORS.

die Stintino utenti in in time giunti/ihnen mit uniting uit nt tige .time

'ro ALL WIIOM I'r eoNoEnN u Be it known that we, EDMUND JOHNSON and AUuUs'I S'rnUEuNAoEL, each of the city and county of Washington,

- und District of Columbia, have jointly invented cert-aiu new and useful improvements and inventionto prevent frauds in the manufacture ot' or distillation of whisky, or other o r similar liquors, ivliichwe hereby denominate a Sacchanometer, `with a scale and table plai-Itherowith attached or combined, inthev manner and for the `purposes substantially herein describedan'd sei: forth; and we do hereby declare that the `following is a clear and exact'description of the said invention and improvements, reference being hereby had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of refe'rence'and explanation marked thereon, by which the construction, nature, and operation or manner oi' operatingour said invention and improvements are` shown.

Hither'to there has beenl no device or plan to prevent large frauds upon the revenue of the country by manufacturers, distillers of whisky, or other or Similar liquors. The Government, in order to ascertain or to know the quantity of liquors of the kind aforesaid manufactured or distilled during each'day, or day and night, by any person or company engaged in the manufacture or distillation of. whisky or other kinds of liquors, in order to apply thereto the tax in the manner as by law provided, has usually employed oiieor more persons at each manufactory, known and called a local inspector, who is supposed to attend such Works, and to report the` number. of gallons made to the proper ocer, so as to apply to said works or manufactory the proper Govern-Y ment tax. It will be selen that it is a ve'ry easy matter for collusion between such inspector and manufacturers; as,for example,`the manufacturer makes one thousand gallons of whisky per day, but, by an understanding with the said inspector, he, the inspector, reports to the proper Government oiiicer but ve hundred gallons made that day. Here itvill be seen that the Government is actually defrauded from the taxation of lve hundred gallons of Whisky; and so the manufacturer .is permitted to make great gains and profits by reason of `Athis -fraud practised by him and such inspector upon`thc Government,- as aforesaid, there being nothing)r to check or prevent such collusion by and between the said distiller and inspector by means of which false returns `are made to the Government. It has recently been ascertained that such false and fraudulent returns are new, and have for a long whilebeen practised and carried to a very great extent, by which the Government has sufferedjvery great losses in the internal revenue department, of or to the amount ofliundreds of thousands of dollars annually. To remedy this great evil, and to enable thc Government to tax all the whisky or other similar liquors made in this country, and subject to' taxation under the lavr, is the object of our said invention and improvements; and by its use and application to any distillery or manufactory there can never be any collusion or fraud by and between the manufacturers. and Government inspectors without being at once detected and discovered. By the use of our sziid invention every gallon of Whisky AIliade-will be ascertained and registered, Ivhether made day or night; and it Will also detect and report any drawing larray of the liquors from the tubs containing'the same, and so it will discover, detect, and report any fraudulent means resorted to to make a less number of gallons from the actua-l number of gallons made during any given time, in spite of any eiforts on the part of any inspector or manufacturer to make it otherwise for purposes of dci'raudingthe Government in its internal revenue department. l

Sheet 1 of the accompanyingr drawings represents, or has the general appearance of, similar instruments destined to weigh or ascertain the alcoholic, saceharinc, and such like quality of any given liquid. TheA shape of the saine is governed by its destination to be inserted int/o the liquid, and to be kept in a heating perpendicnier-position. To accomplish this end it must consist of a tube, on which the scale is marked, a spheroid bulb, to keep it Heating, and a Weight attached, so as to keep it in balance. The improvement in this instrument claimed by us as a part of our said invention consists in the lemployment of the scale, sheet lof the accoms partying drawings, which scale is adapted thereto. The scales non* known and used for other purposes, as Baumes, Trallr's, Twaddells, and others, are based upon the state of expansion oi' the liquids at a given temperature, (60,0 and used for liquors containing alcohol or principles of' alcohol. The use oi' these scales is limited by their relative unrcliubility, as the principles upon which they are based have no established found@ tion orifacts, but upon more hypothesis, while theinstrument shown in the accompanying drawings, sheet 1, is

exclusively employed or used to ascertain the saccharine quality of the mash used in distilleries'during and after the process of fermentation, as shown in the application of the same by reference to the annexed drawings. '.lhe object or purposes of the same is to determine, by an exact examination of the mash, the quality of spiri ts that can possibly be produced with the same; that is,- from the mash. The scale is independent of and from the temperature, and it will prove with the same accuracy the mash coming from tue boilerafter it is cooled, and duringthc process of fermentation, which heightens the temperature 'of the same. A'series of practical experiments made by us has determined the use and adoption of this scale, which is not based upon hypothetical principles, but which is the result of practical experiments made by us, as aforesaid stated, and by which the accuracy androliability of the same, when applied to the use and purposes herein described and s ct forth, as well shown and described by the accompanying drawings, have been determined;f and the saidinstruinent must in all cases be used iu connection with the said scale or plan 'shown and represented by sheet 2`of the accompanying drawings, and which we describe in operation as follows, as its construction will fully appear by reference to said drawings, sheet 2, to wit: l

lhe controlling oilicer has first to measure the dimensions of the fermentation tubs at columns 2 to 4; then gauge the same as to their capacity, column G. The cubic contents of the tubs, after measurement, is found by multiplying the height with the width; then multiply the product with 3.14, and reduce the same to cubic inches, and divide by 23], to obtain the number of gallons. The gauging process is to ascertain the actual quantity of mash fitted therein. 'lhe quantity of the ingredients used must b ecarefully noted, as shown in and by columns 7 to 1'-.l, of sheet 2 of the accompanying drawings, and the total of the same noted as in columns 15 and 1G of same drawings. The total of the fermenting mash is taken in column 1T. After thirtysix. or forty-eight hours- -uiuler very unfavorable circumstances after seventy-two hours-the mash will be ready for distillation. During this time it will be the duty of the controlling officer to note daily, at certain hours ofthe day, the saccharine quality of the mash in each tub in use, with the instrument hereinbefore described and setforth, and shown in the accompanyingy drawings at sheet 1, or by means of some instrument substantially the same in operation, and results attained, when used in connection 0r combination with theplanset forth in and by sheet 2 of said accompanying drawings, asv indicated by columns 18 to 26 thereof. The same will be done when the mash is ready for the still, which will generally be the case when thesaeehanometer shows upon the said improved scale 3, or even less than that. After this the controlling officer will note s uch remarks in column 3() of said accompanying drawings, sheet 2, as he may deem necessary to bring to the knowledge of the proper eilicer or Treasury Department of the Government; asfforexample, when a tub runs out, or if the mash in one of them becomes unfit for use, or under any other circumstances that would produce an alteration in the result; and finally the `said oiiicer will, by his signature in column 31, certify to the Vcorrectness of the whole operation and results attained;

l The next steptaken is to state the kind of the apparatus used, and the capacity of its still'used by the manu' facturers, as there are several di'erentlkinds of apparatus used in the distilleries of the United States, among which may be foundone known as Schwarts, Pistori, Bengah Sie.' The capacity of the still is always ina certain proportion to the size of the tubs used. A distillery with four fermenting tubs, of,s`ay eighteen hundred .gallons capacity each,.uses a still of five hundred gallons, or thereabouts. The still being filled with mash, the quantity oi' which will be noted in the proper place on said sheet 2, the operation begins, and after an hour the produce runs from the worm, which is alsonote'd, and so the process continues on for every hour the distillery is in operation, in the manner and form substantially as indicated and set forth in said sheet 2 of said drawings.' lithis way the quantity of the spirits made is ascertained, as well as the time when it runs fromthe worm, and its proof by the said saechanometer. This operation will 'be continued until all the tubs are emptied; then the total is taken, and the same process begins again with the newly prepared mash. The report of said operation should be made by the'inspector daily, and forwarded to the collector of the district where said distilleries are located, for comparis on with the'distillers returns, who will forward it tohis superior' otiicer, where the final control will be exercised according to the following table, to wit:

When the sacchanometcr shows-by the improved scale- Each Bushel of Grain. Each Gallon of .ltlolasses- This table is sufficient for theordinary transactions in the working and management in. and of distilleries; and a mash showing more' than 3 sacchanometer, new scale aforesaid, will never produce spirits proof or over proof. It will therefore be seen and understood that no fraud-can be practised upon the revenue `department of the Government by reason of any trading, arrangement, orcollusion to defraud, of any kind, by and between the Government inspector and the distiller or whisky manufacturer, without being at once discovered and detected. A report must be made, and it must be truthfully made, or the error or fraud will at the time, be

found out.

Having thus 'described our said invention and improvements, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is f 1. The sacchanometer A, containing scale B, when applied to'and used in combinationwith the scale or table ,of sheet 2 of the drawings, to prevent frauds in the distillation or manufacture' of whisky or other similailiquors, in the manner substantially as herein described andset forth.

2. We claim the employment of said scale or table, sheet 2 of said drawing, constructed and operated in the manner and for the purposes substantially as herein ldescribed and setforth.

Y 3. We claim the process or means herein described and set forth for detecting :md preventing frauds in the distillation of whisky or other oi similar liquors by distillata, substantially :is herein described and set forth.

In testimony whereof we have, on this 5th day of January, 1867, hel'eunto set our hands.

' 1 EDMUND JOHNSON,

AUG. STEUERNAGEL.

Witnesses:

DAVID R. SMITH, JNO. W. PARSONS. 

